Abel Ferrara announced in an interview with The Film Stage that his “Padre Pio” star Shia LaBeouf is currently writing a movie about Auschwitz that the two men are thinking of filming together. No other details were provided at this time. PvNew has tapped LaBeouf’s manager for additional details.
In Ferrara’s “Padre Pio,” which premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival, LaBeouf plays the eponymous 19th century religious figure, who rose to fame in the Catholic world for exhibiting stigmata — crucifixion wounds corresponding to those on the body of Jesus Christ — before becoming a symbol of hope for southern Italians during the country’s turbulent period between the two World Wars.
“Padre Pio” marked LaBeouf’s first major acting role after taking a hiatus following abuseallegations made in 2020 by his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs. The singer sued LaBeouf for sexual battery and emotional distress.
When asked by The Film Stage if he has stayed in touch with LaBeouf, Ferrera said, “He’s doing real good, man. He’s doing real good. He went off and he did a Coppola movie [‘Megalopolis’]. So that was, there was one of those films, right? I mean, ‘Padre Pio’ was 15 days or 20 days and he was in for four so he wasn’t there a long time. But anyway, it was good and he’s working.”
Ferrara added, “We’re working on a film together –– he’s writing something about Auschwitz that we’re thinking about doing.”
LaBeouf’s last outing as a screenwriter was the autobiographical “Honey Boy,” which he loosely based on his years as a child actor and his rocky relationship with his father. LaBeouf starred in the Alma Har’el-directed film as a fictionalized version of his dad. While LaBeouf heavily touted the film’s autobiographical nature during the film’s press tour, he later retracted such a perspective and said the negative portrayal of his father was a lie (or “fucking nonsense,” as he put it in one interview).
Ferrara previously spoke to PvNew about casting LaBeouf in “Padre Pio” despite FKA Twigs’ sexual battery lawsuit against him. “He’s the kind of actor that the next minute [after you speak with him] he jumps in his pick-up truck and he’s driving to a monastery in California,” the director said. “He’s bringing his own life to it. You are seeing a person going through a very similar experience. It’s not just about wearing robes and performing actions.”
“Padre Pio” opens June 2 in U.S. theaters.
